With the weather set to finally warm up, it’s time to start a new season of gardening at The Grove.

The 5^th anniversary celebration on 24^th March was really well attended, it was great to see some old faces and a few new ones. The 5^th Annual AGM was held earlier in March, thanks to all those who attended. Linked below are the AGM minutes, Chair and Treasurers reports:

AGM 2018 Minutes

Chairs Report

Treasurers Report

The committee welcomed a new member, Tete da Silva. Tete was the creative force behind bringing the Grove to Light back in December; we are thrilled to have her on board, as she brings great energy and enthusiasm to the committee as we transition the site in the coming months.

The full committee is now as follows: Wendy Lord (Chair), Ann Burgess (Vice Chair), Jayne Totty (Secretary), David Leslie (Treasurer), Akiko Kobayashi, Sarah Marshall, Nim Kibbler, Isobel Shepherd, Tete DaSilva.

Site Changes & Decluttering!

Moda Living have assured us that Grove 1 can continue as it is until September, when work will start on site. The plan is then for Grove 1 to move up to the side of Grove Extra, merging a little way along Dundee Street. With some creative planning and better use of the space we already have, we will be able to accommodate our existing planters, store and cabin and create an exciting new layout. With all this in mind, we would like to declutter as much as possible on site at Grove 1 in the coming months. We of course still want to enjoy the space we have, but it would be great if there are not too many random pots and plants to transfer in the autumn!

Communal Gardening Sessions

Communal sessions continue on Saturdays, 10am-12noon at Grove in the Park and from 12noon-2pm at Grove 1. Once the longer days are with us in June and July, Nim will be hosting sessions on a Wednesday evening from 6-7pm offering you the chance to check in for growing advice.

Membership and Fees

Thanks to those who have personal planters who have already paid their annual fee. If you have still to pay, you can leave your £4 in the honesty pot at the cabin or transfer to the bank account: Coop Bank, 08 92 99, account number 65645992. If you no longer wish to retain your personal planter then please let us know by email:  grovefcg@gmail.com.

Upcoming events

19^th May, 2-4pm: Get together at Grove 1 to celebrate National Vegetarian Week with some tasty food. Pizzas, garden salads and inspiration on how to cook meat-free.

16^th June 12-2pm:  Grove 1 will be taking part in The Power of Food Festival when the garden will be open and offering cake and herbal teas.

Next committee meeting: Wednesday 2^nd May, 6.30pm at Grove 1.

Looking forward to seeing you at Grove 1 and Grove in the Park!

It’s not quite winter, but our next event will certainly usher in the cold weather.

‘Grove comes to Light’ in collaboration with the ‘Jo Cox Great Community Get Together’ is on Sunday 3rd December from 4pm to 6pm at Grove 1.

• This event is for everyone (so  your family and friends are welcome).

• Bring food and drink to share, a candle and warm clothes.

• We will hope for a dry evening but we have gazebos if necessary.

Recent events

Our last Graft and Grub event was on 5th November when Jayne cooked food over the barbecue.  Annie ran a charcoal making workshop, and Toni opened up the Scrapstore bus. It was good fun with around 30 people of all ages there.

On the previous Graft and Grub event we fired up the pizza oven (and the barbecue) and enjoyed great food made by Jayne.

In the Gardens

• The greenhouse at Grove 1 is full of winter salads.

• In both Grove 1 and Grove in the Park there are beans, peas, onions and garlic establishing themselves over the cold months, ready to burst into life in the spring.

 Things to do

• There’s plenty to do over the winter, tidying and sorting the cabin and the gardens. Weeds are still growing, and there are winter veg to harvest!

• When the wasps finally vacate the compost heap in the upper garden at Grove 1 we can redo that heap so it can quietly decompose over the winter.

• There will still be Saturday communal gardening sessions at Grove in the Park from 11am – 12 noon and at Grove 1 from 1pm – 2pm.

• We have put lists of tasks on the cabin door at Grove 1 and on the planters themselves at Grove in the Park.

Our volunteers

The community payback volunteers still come on a weekly basis and do a lot of the heavy work around the garden but also some of the aesthetically pleasing work too.
They for instance have done almost all the weeding between the planters in the upper garden at Grove 1 and have generally made a huge effort to tidy the site over the last few weeks, though we never ask them to litter pick.

Future plans

We have the opportunity to run some workshops in the future, themed around keeping things out of landfill, reusing and recycling, but also including members of the community. Let us know if you have any ideas for such workshops and we’ll see if they can be included in the programme next year.

Grove committee

We need more people on the Grove Committee, so if you’d like to be a member let us know – we can send more details of just what this entails. Email grovefcg@gmail.com

We look forward to seeing you and your friends at ‘Grove comes to light’ on Sunday 3rd December.